Structure of foredune herbaceous formation in the Northern Coast of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

Resumen

(Structure of foredune herbaceous formation in the Northern Coast of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil). The foredune plant cover is extremely variable, determined mainly by abiotic factors. This study describes the floristic and structure of foredune herbaceous formation in Itapeva State Park, Torres (RS) (29°21’ S, 49°45’ W), in two distinct seasons. The phytosociological data were obtained in 34 units sample of 4 m2 each. The species present in each unit were identified, and their heights and coverage degrees were determined. The floristic revealed the presence of 31 species, 28 genera and 11 families. Poaceae was the richest family, followed by Asteraceae and Cyperaceae. The phytosociologic survey resulted in 15 species distributed in five families. The most frequent and the ones with broader coverage species were Panicum racemosum, Senecio crassiflorus and Hydrocotyle bonariensis. Both summer and winter surveys revealed a significant difference in coverage, because the high vegetative propagation of Panicum racemosum and the occurrence of annual species.